When describing the architecture and ultrastructure of animal skeletons, introductory
biology, anatomy and histology textbooks typically focus on the few bone and cartilage types …

Over the last decade, the study of shark biology has benefited from the development,
refinement, and rapid expansion of novel techniques and advances in technology. These …

The endoskeleton of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) is comprised largely of
unmineralized cartilage, differing fundamentally from the bony skeletons of other …

Dietary phosphorus (P) is essential for bone mineralisation in vertebrates. P deficiency can
cause growth retardation, osteomalacia and bone deformities, both in teleosts and in …

Vertebrate calcitonin-producing cells (C-cells) are neuroendocrine cells that secrete the
small peptide hormone calcitonin in response to elevated blood calcium levels. Whereas …

The primary skeletal tissue in elasmobranchs–sharks, rays and relatives–is cartilage,
forming both embryonic and adult endoskeletons. Only the skeletal surface calcifies …

The diversity of skeletal tissues in extant vertebrates includes mineralized and
unmineralized structures made of bone, cartilage, or tissues of intermediate nature. This …

An accepted uniting character of modern cartilaginous fishes (sharks, rays, chimaera) is the
presence of a mineralized, skeletal crust, tiled by numerous minute plates called tesserae …

Members of the Chondrichthyes (Elasmobranchii and Holocephali) are distinguished by
their largely cartilaginous endoskeletons, which comprise an uncalcified core overlain by a …

Skeletal tissues are built and shaped through complex, interacting active and passive
processes. These spatial and temporal variabilities make interpreting growth mechanisms …